NIBIB PROPOSAL ? ABSTRACT 2019 OSA Optical Molecular Probes, Imaging and Drug Delivery; Bio-Optics: Design and Application; and Novel Techniques in Microscopy The 2019 OSA Biophotonics Congress: Optics in the Life Sciences 15-17 April 2019, Tucson, AZ, consists of five topical meetings. Two of these meetings, Optical Molecular Probes, Imaging and Drug Delivery (OMP); Bio-Optics: Design and Application (BODA); and Novel Techniques in Microscopy (NTM) provide broad exposure to a very active multidisciplinary field in biophotonics and optics in life sciences focused on cancer research with direct medical applications. The interdisciplinary nature of the co-located meetings will provide cross- fertilization of concepts and techniques between fields with the resulting synergies obtained from such interactions. This proposal is to provide registration and travel support for students, early career professionals, and underrepresented speakers that will present on cancer related topic areas within the two topical meetings. OMP will focus on the convergence in these rapidly evolving areas, spanning from basic biology to clinical diagnostics and therapeutic applications, BODA will address all aspects of development and applications of biomedical optical technologies for research and clinical applications, and NTM will focus on the development of new and creative techniques in optical microscopy for biological or biomedical applications. In addition, by bringing together an international group of leading engineers, optical and medical scientists, and physicians, as well as junior researchers and graduate students, these meetings will help to enhance the training of a wide group of interdisciplinary researchers, augmenting standard academic training for graduate students and presenting opportunities for career advancement, especially for students and early career professionals. The general purpose of these meetings is to create an inclusive, open forum for the presentation of high-quality scientific research through plenary and technical sessions, short courses, panels, networking and special events. Topics will include image-guided surgery, nanophotonics for biomedicine imaging, drug discovery imaging, and other novel optical technologies for diagnosis and treatment. The face-to-face method of information sharing will allow researchers to learn what others in their field and related disciplines are doing and to efficiently learn about new research, tools, and techniques that might be relevant to their work. It allows conversations with colleagues from different institutions around the world and engenders far reaching scientific collaborations ? both domestic and international.